Star wars Escape from Dagu fanfiction
by Gligo13
Summary: Fanfiction based on a star wars book never published


Escape from Dagu fanfiction

This story was based on the story written by William C. Dietz

The bright white stars covered the dark blanket of surrounding space. A few planets in the distance, tiny dots of color, looked like natural jewelry. Shaak Ti contemplated the mystery and the beauty of space. She thought about all the knowledge and wonders every corner of the galaxy had to offer, if only you looked close enough. The Jedi Master steered the civilian configured shuttle she was piloting closer to Dagu's orbit. The planet was a bright green covered by dense white clouds and there were many light blue oceans that surrounded the continents. Dagu was a beautiful planet. Too bad it is being devastated by the war… She piloted the shuttle further toward the northern hemisphere. Descending into orbit the Jedi Master saw the clouds covering the entire viewport for a few seconds. Then she could see the green fields of the planet with huge mountains far ahead. In a couple of minutes the shuttle was less than a kilometre above the ground and Shaak began to turn the ship toward a lake she saw nearby. When the shuttle was close enough to the lake, she opened the cockpit and jumped. The craft dived in the water with a very loud SPLASH. Shaak Ti landed perfectly on the shore. She filled her disguise robe's inner pocket to check for the lightsaber and then she started moving toward the coordinates provided by the Republic courier. She walked for half a dozen kilometres until she reached a forest. Based on the provided coordinates for the Separatist slave camp, if she turned left from the forest, she would reach it in an hour at most, less if she sprinted. If she went through the forest she would reach the camp in more then twice that time. She started walking into the forest. This way, it would be almost impossible for anyone to spot her much less follow her. The trees were very tall with big, circular, dark green leaves and they blocked most of the sun light. In the distance Shaak Ti could hear soft bird songs and some noisy insect buzzing as well. After a while she started sprinting. On her way she noticed colorful flowers. Most of them were blue, yellow and orange, making for an impressive natural pallet. Now it was quite some time since she started walking through the woods. She had been running for at least an hour, but she wasn't tired. She had great training and resolve and so far she didn't call on the Force to assist her. More time had passed since she reached an area deep in the woods where a bit more light came through. This meant that she was coming very close to the other end of the forest and so to the camp where the clones and the Rybets were held captive. She hadn't been keeping track of time, but she estimated she had been in the forest for almost three hours. After a few kilometres she reached the end of the forest. Now she was pretty tired but she didn't focus on that. She was concentrating on the mission. The camp was right ahead. She could see a transport on the landing pad. It must have landed only a short while ago since it was still offloading prisoners.

The Jedi Master started running toward the installation, keeping her had down and dropping to the ground from time to time to make sure she wasn't spotted. When she reached the landing pad she quickly got behind some supply crates left of the transport ramp. Droids were escorting clones and Rybets to the prisons cells, occasionally threatening them and sometimes even hitting them. A security droid was coming her way to reinforce the detail already guarding the prisoners. When it reached her behind the crates it couldn't even say a word that she grabbed it's hand holding the baster tight, quickly turned behind it and snapped its neck. Then she let go of the arm with the blaster and pulled the droid further behind the crates, laying it on the ground. Then she moved out of cover and walked stealthily to the column of prisoners marching under heavy guard. She got behind another security droid watching the captives. She Force Pushed some rocks a few metres away. The droid heard and instantly turned in that direction. Just as fast she spun around behind it and pushed her way through two Rybets in the middle of the row. They exclaimed something at her when the droid turned around but she had already moved forward and disappeared in the mass of captives. The crowd was suffocating and there was literally no space to move your body or arms. If you didn't pay attention and walk fast enough you would surely stumble and get hit by the passing prisoners. Some time passed until they reached the prison yard. Here they would have to wait until they were organised into labor teams and assigned work on the Separatist base they had to build. Shaak Ti saw a clone trooper nearby. She moved slowly through the crowd toward him. If he was surprised to see her hear it merely showed on his face, but she could feel his astonishment in the Force.

"CT-271 reporting, general!" he said while taking a straight position and greeting her with the usual military salute.

"Trooper, Shaak said, I am here to free your battalion and the Rybets, but I also have another mission. Do you know where they are keeping your commander?" Very few of the troopers on Dagu knew about the currier and those who knew where the battalion commander and a couple of his officers.

"I'm not sure, general. But he was in the first line during the battle and I have seen him being loaded onto a transport just like the one that brought us here. He must be already at the Separatist base doing labor."

"Very well. We will be taken there as well. Do you know in which section he was assigned? I have noticed some sort of destination indications on the hull of the ship they have here."

"Ah… I think it was something like 3z-Q89, but I don't know for certain."

"I will go a little more to the forward end of the crowd to see the transports when they arrive. If anyone asks about me, I am a cook from one of the cruisers used in the battle."

"Understood, general", replied CT-271. The Jedi Master then moved through the mass of soon-to-be slaves closer to the exit for the transfer landing pad. Laff Tibben was exhausted. He had been working all day on the shield generator for the Separatist base along with three other people from his species.

Along with them thousands of other Rybets had been marched out of the streets or their homes and been taken to the new Separatist base on this planet and forced to do hard labor to help finish its construction. But Laff Tibben hadn't been just another Rybet to be taken into slavery. He was a currier for the Republic with vital information about Separatist future invasion plans and troop deployment throughout most of the Outer Rim. This information had been provided by half a dozen different spies from this entire part of the galaxy. They had been and still were risking their lives doing this and so was Tibben. This should have worked out just fine: Tibben piloted his shuttle from Varl to Dagu after a meeting with the last spy. He met with the capital ship of the Republic fleet here, it would transfer him to another cruiser of the attack group and that cruiser would take him SAFELY to Coruscant. Just when he was being escorted by clone troopers on the hangar deck of the Venator that was the fleet's capital ship to a transfer craft that would get him aboard the Stellar Gladiator, an Acclamator-class assault ship ordered to take him to Coruscant, Separatist reinforcements came out of hyperspace: two Munificent-class frigates and a Recusant-class light destroyer with a large complement of bombers to take out the clone forces on Dagu. The capital ship sustained serious damage and was eventually boarded. Most of the clones aboard were killed and a few were taken prisoners along with Laff Tibben. Fortunately, the Separatist troops that captured him had no idea he was an important currier and most likely thought he was an engineer working on Republic starfighters. Before he was captured, the Rybet managed to contact the Jedi Council and, once he was transported down to the planet, the last message Tibben had sent them was the coordinates of the slave processing camp the droids had brought him to. He could feel sweat prickling on his large forehead. His light green-skinned hands were dirty and hurt a lot. There was even blood emerging from a few fingers, because he had cut his hands while working on the sharp metal components of the shield generator. In a few hours, the slaves would be taken to the huge yard of the base while their work has checked for sabotage. Once he was outside this giant tin can of a base, he could start looking for the Jedi sent here to rescue him and the others…

The Sheathipede-class shuttle was now descending in Dagu's atmosphere. Artel Darc was sitting in the passenger compartment talking to the hologram of count Dooku.

"I trust you haven't sent me on this mud ball just to oversee the construction of an insignificant base."said Darc.

"Indeed, replied Dooku, I have an important mission for you. It has come to my attention that in the middle of the battle here, our troops, unknowingly, have captured a Republic courier with vital intelligence about our Outer Rim troop deployments. If this information reaches the Republic, our efforts in this part of the galaxy will have been for nothing. Your task is to find this courier, interrogate him as to what information he has about our battle plans and mostly, of what he knows about the Republic spies that gave him this information. After that, terminate him." "Very well. I will contact you as soon as I find him."

"Do not fail me, Darc" , threatened Dooku. "Yes, Master." The Acolyte bowed in front of the holoimage just before it disappeared. "We are preparing to execute landing procedures, sir." announced the robotic voice of the pilot droid. In a few minutes, the shuttle landed at the main landing pad of the unfinished base. It was operational, but it lacked any sort of shielding and defense weaponry, along with storage areas, a hangar and prison cells. That's why, at night, the slaves were kept outside in the yard under heavy security. Also, the base didn't really have the exterior walls finished. It was taller than it was wide and it was a cone-shaped structure which favored storage areas and was easy to defend. On the landing pad, the commander in charge of the CIS forces on Dagu awaited Darc's arrival, who had nine A-series assassin droids as escorts, along with his staff and a security detail made of human and humanoid soldiers, rather than droids. "Welcome to Dagu, sir. I am commander Trakiv and these are the main officers from my staff." He introduced each of them: one of them was a Neimoidian, one was a Gossam and the other two were a human and an Umbaran. The commander continued, "The entire Rybet colony as been enslaved and so have been most of the clone troopers that survived the battle. The base is mostly operational, although it- Darc cut him off,"I have read the report on the base and I am not interested in you or the slaves lack of progress. I am here with a mission of my own and I don't care much for overseeing the construction work. Take me to the command centre."

"Yes, sir" , replied Trakiv, "follow me." Trakiv led the way from the landing pad to the command centre. On the way there, Darc saw the slaves lifting heavy cargo and building walls and defense turrets using detailed schematics provided by Trakiv. A few metres away from them, a wounded Rybet fell to the ground and dropped the crate he was carrying.

WEAK AND INCOMPETENT, Darc thought. The slave will be punished for this. Without a word to Trakiv or his officers, the Dark Acolyte walked to the wounded prisoner. We may have been accidentally wounded in the battle and his leg hadn't been tended to. It had just been bandaged with some cloth which was soaked in blood from the injury. Darc kicked the Rybet in the belly with anger. He screamed in agony and rolled on the ground.

"Get up, slave! NOW!"ordered Artel Darc. "Please, I…I'm injured… " Darc kicked him again this time, harder.

" Aaah!" cried the man.

"I said GET UP!" screamed the Acolyte. With great effort the Rybet got up. He walked hardly and slowly to the crate and picked it up with all he had left of his strength.

" Now get out of my sight!" said Darc. The slave walked away. Darc smile at this sight. This is how Dooku taught him to command others, with fear. This is also how Dooku taught him that someone can control the entire galaxy. He returned to the group of officers and enjoyed seeing the shock and subtle hint of fear on their faces. They continued their walk to the command centre.

Darc was sitting on a chair in the command centre which was located on one of the base's upper levels. This room had wide transparisteel windows that offered a 360 degrees view of the surroundings. And the windows offered a great view of the slave yard. The Acolyte could feel the suffering of the slaves. He enjoyed feeling this emotions in others. It gave him strength. Made him feel powerful. He was considering the problem of the Republic courier. If any of the prisoners knew who the courier was, it had to be the clone officers who participated in the battle of Dagu. Darc turned to Trakiv.

"Does this place have an interrogation chamber?" asked Dooku's Acolyte.

"Yes, but not all the equipment has been moved there yet."

"I'm not surprised", said Darc.

"Prepare the room for interrogation." Then he gestured to the Skakoan techs working at the computer stations.

"Where is the clone commander of the battalion imprisoned here?" One of the techs started pressing some buttons.

"He has been assigned to load crates for crane D34-kH." the Skakoan said. Artel Darc turned to his A-series assassin droids and looked at the first two.

"You two! Bring that clone to the interrogation chamber." The droids turned away and walked through the doors. Shaak Ti was being escorted by security battle droids along with hundreds of other prisoners through the base yard. Using a Jedi mind trick on the humanoid guards that checked her for weapons or communication devices, she managed to keep her lightsaber concealed in her robe's interior pocket. She had been assigned lifter work: she had to carry heavy crates with building materials to one of the construction cranes. Now the prisoners had to be processed again and then they would be taken where each individual one had to do labor. They were walking toward some security scanners. If she moved through the security scanners her lightsaber would be discovered and then the mission would be compromised. She glanced around the scanners looking for something that could help. The Jedi Master noticed that the scanner operator, a Duros with a rank insignia that indicated he was a lieutenant, had a cup with some sort of drink in it. The cup was on the right side of the scanner control panel, close enough to the operator's hand. There were two Rybets in front of Shaak Ti now. The first one just passed through the scanners and was pushed forward by two battle droids. The second one was being scanned. Shaak used the Force to spill the operator's cup with a subtle hand gesture. The cup fell on the panel and the spilled liquid short circuited the controls.

"Fierfek! What the-!" exclaimed the Duros just before small electricity waves cascaded from the panel. He jumped from the controls while covering his eyes with his hands. Another security officer stood nearby, flanked by two B1s. He quickly turned toward the Duros and said,

"You idiot, what did you do?! These scanners are worth more than twice your monthly payment!" The two droids surrounding the scanners had also turned and, for a second none of the security personnel looking toward her, Shaak Ti moved quickly ahead, passing through the malfunctioning scanners. When she was a metre or so away from the droids, they raised their blasters at the prisoner that should have been scanned after her and ordered,

"Move it, slave!" The Rybet was a little confused, because he had been looking at the Duros as well a few seconds ago and he knew a Togruta should have been ahead of him, but the Jedi Master was already far ahead and blended in with the unending crowd of slaves. The slave obeyed and moved forward to be checked the old-fashioned way.

Shaak Ti was very tired after hours of hard labor. She had been lifting big crates full of durasteel bars and bricks for the better part of the day. The Jedi Master limited her use of the Force to help hauling the crates, because she needed to save her strength for when she will save the prisoners. She had touched down on the planet a few minutes past seven hundred hours local time. Now it was evening. While she put down another heavy crate she was suddenly disturbed by something. It was a nudge from the Force. She tried to figure out what had set that feeling of danger… She sensed a concentration of Dark Side energy nearby. Just then, a shuttle flew overhead. It appeared to be heading to the base landing pad. She was sure that whoever was aboard it wasn't Dooku. The Dark Side wasn't so concentrated in that being as it was in the count and it also felt rough, hardly controlled at all. This was very different from what she had felt from Dooku on Geonosis. She needed to find the courier and rally the clones fast… The Separatists didn't trust the Rybets, much less the clones, so the prisoners mostly had to lift and carry heavy crates rather than finish building the base. That was mostly done by droids and as few Rybets as possible. Th Jedi Master was running out of time. She needed to find the spy before whatever Dark Side Acolyte Dooku sent here would. From her silent discussions with troopers around here she pretty much knew in which area the clone commander might be. Shaak Ti knocked a few crates with the Force to distract the droids near her, than she moved to the closest clone trooper she saw.

"Can you direct me to crane D34-kH?" She didn't need to introduce herself. All troopers here knew her.

"It's pretty close, actually, general. You have to turn left in front of that cargo speeder, then you will have to pass by some Rybets mounting up a cannon. After that you will see some repulsorlift haulers most likely, and then there should be the crane. " Shaak Ti has hiding behind a pile of bricks while the trooper pretended to be sorting them. The guard droids were returning.

"I will go find the commander." And with that she walked away slowly, trying to avoid any guards. In a few minutes, the Jedi Master reached the crane. There weren't many clones there: the droids gave them the toughest of jobs and the ones here had to load some bricks on the palette lifted by the crane. For droids it may not have been obvious, but she could see two troopers talking discreetly to each other while working. She grabbed a crate nearby and carried it to the clones. After a few steps, the droids halted her.

"What are you doing here?"

"I was ordered to bring this durasteel crate here",she answered humbly. "Very well, proceed."

She walked to the clones and put the crane to the pallette and moved to a spot where the droids couldn't see her. The two clones were obviously surprised to see her here.

"CC-6704, reporting, general." said one of them.

"CT-401, reporting, general." saluted the other just like the first. Shaak Ti looked at the first one and said,

"Are you the commander of the battalion here?"

"Yes , ma'am ." 04 responded.

"I must find the courier. Can you tell me where to find him?"

"Last time I've seen him he told me he had been assigned to work on the shield generator. I don't know where that is exactly, but it should be on the last floor of the base."

"I will infiltrate the base and look for him. Do you know a safe way inside. One that won't attract attention if I go there?"

"I do, ma'am. Permission to assist you?" Shaak Ti hesitated just a moment. "Granted."

Just when they were preparing to go and 04 ordered CT-401 to cover for him, two A-series assassin droids were coming their way.

"The clone commander of the battalion will be taken to interrogation immediately." the droids said as a chorus. This was just what Shaak Ti wanted to avoid: an open engagement with droids. She needed to start a prison riot sooner or later so she could help the captives escape. This would do just fine for such a purpose. The Jedi Master got out of cover, took out her lightsaber and ignited it. The droids quickly rose their blasters.

"You are not authorised. Surrender immediately."

"It is you who should surrender." Shaak said. Smoke rose from blaster bolts that hit the piece of soil the Jedi had been there less than a second ago. Her Force jump brought her behind the droids. They instantly turned and began firing again. The commander and the trooper kicked the two B1's there, took their blasters and began firing on the assassin droids. The other security B1's close by were confused just a second, but they turned away from the slaves they were guarding and began firing on the Jedi and the two clones. The slaves took advantage of this and tried to destroy the droids. The clones took them out professionally, first disarming them then kicking them or shooting them with their own weapons. The Rybets weren't combat trained, but they were doing a decent job of scrapping the droids themselves. Soon, almost all of the prisoners were armed with blasters taken from the droids and there weren't any more B1's nearby. But that didn't last long. Squads of droids were coming from the closest parts of the base to stop the riot. Shaak Ti was fighting the A-series droids. Their blasters were spitting unending volleys toward her. The Jedi Master was deflecting every single blaster bolt, not one touching her. The two assassins were slowly moving away from each other to flank her. Their blasters weren't stopping at all and the A-series droids were firing very fast. Now they were closing on her both from the left and from the right. She Force jumped again, to her left, and decapitated the first assassin droid and then kicked it's metallic body out of the way. The second droid was advancing toward her. It changed it's target zone very fast: once it was aiming for her hard, an instant later for her left leg, then for her chest and so on.

It was trying to deceive her, making her lose her focus by rapidly changing where it fired. But this sort of tactic was useless against a Jedi Master. She advanced toward the droid's position. It started to back away as it tried to contact the base commander.

"This is unit A-34. We have spotted a Jedi near construction crane D34-kH. Unit A-52 was been incapacitated. The Jedi has also started a small slave riot." Shaak Ti leaped toward the droid to slash him with the lightsaber. It dogded to the right and launched a punch at Shaak. She blocked the attack and impaled the droid. It fell to the ground as sparks cascaded from it's chest plate. 04 was leading a handful of troopers against a squad of B1s.

"A JEDI?!Here?" screamed Darc in the command centre.

"Display the prison yard security camera view." he ordered. The Skakoan techs at the main computer switched to the security camera live recording. Indeed there was a small riot: some clones and Rybets had destroyed some droids and now a few squads were converging on their position. And in the middle of it all was a Jedi. Not just any Jedi saw Artel Darc: it was the Togruta Shaak Ti, a High Jedi General and a member of the Council. The Dark Acolyte was very angry. Now Shaak Ti and her riot would turn this place upside down, not to mention making finding the courier almost impossible. But there was also something good about all this. Now he could truly prove his abilities to Dooku if he killed her. No, not IF, but WHEN. Yes, we would earn the reputation of the count's most trusted Acolyte. We would enjoy power and wealth beyond comprehension. All he needed to do was kill this Jedi, but there was also the problem of the missing courier.

"Lock down the prison yard", he said to Travik. "Assemble all the droids we have and sent them there." Then he turned to his personal contingent of A-series assassin droids.

"The Jedi is here to rescue the courier, he said. We will follow her to the Rybets location, then I will kill her. Come with me."

He left the room followed by the seven assassin droids. A few moments after he left, Dooku contacted him via hologram. He activated his transmitter and bowed slightly.

"I trust you have found the courier by now, Darc." The count was, of course, sarcastic. He knew Artel Darc would have let him know as soon as he would have discovered the Rybet's identity.

"Some… complications occurred, Master. A Jedi has infiltrated in this facility. She started a prison riot to keep the droids busy while she looked around for the courier."

"Jedi?" asked Dooku."And which Jedi might this be?" Darc hesitated for a moment, then he spoke up, "... Shaak Ti." Dooku's expression changed somewhat, but just a little bit.

"The Republic must be desperate to obtain the courier's information."said Dooku. "Ti must now where he is. I will follow her to the Rybet."

"Very well, Darc. But make no mistake. Shaak Ti is a most skilled Jedi and should you not secure the courier and kill her… your punishment will be most severe." Darc felt anger toward the count. He hated this man entirely. He would cherish the day when he will be able to kill him. For now he just said," Yes, Master. I understand." He bowed again and Dooku's holographic image vanished.

The riot grew bigger and bigger. It had started with a couple of dozens of prisoners-now there were thousands revolting, taking blasters from droids destroyed by the first rioting prisoners and shooting the ones coming in. A blaster bolt missed Shaak Ti's head by a few centimetres. She was cutting throw squads of droids, commander 04 at her side, taking out droids as well. "Commander, she said, we don't have much time. We must get inside the base now."

"Understood, general." said 04. He made some hand gestures to some troopers. The troopers started moving to the right, making the droids focus most of their fire toward them. Shaak moved forward, concentrating her strength into a powerful Force push that knocked a dozen droids ten metres backwards. She and the commander moved forward. The base entrance was guarded by four B2 super battle droids and a B1 operating an E-Web blaster. They immediately opened fire on the Jedi and the clone. The ran to cover behind a cargo speeder.

"I am going to push forward and distract them." said the Jedi Master.

"I will scrap them from here." replied the commander. Shaak Ti dashed out of cover and the droids began shooting at her. The E-Web opened up with fast and powerful bursts. The fire was pushing the Shaak back. 04 aimed at the E-Web droid gunner and took the shot. It's had flew and spinned in the air before hit it the base doors with a metallic CLANG. The clone shot two of the B2s before Shaak Ti reduced the other two to nothing but a pile of bolts. She began cutting through the doors while 04 moved out of cover toward the her.

"We need a contingent of troopers to assist us with the fight inside the base." said Shaak.

"We also need to make contact with Coruscant, so the Jedi Council can dispatch some reinforcements to Dagu.

"I will really up some men to help us inside, I just need a few minutes, ma'am. As for contacting Coruscant, from what Tibben managed to tell me, there are comm consoles around most of the base." "Go really up some troops. I will clear the nearby inside area."said the general as she finished cutting a wide hole through the doors.

It was a beautiful, cool morning on Serenno. The bright sun shone through the castle windows. The tall mountains rose above the green plains. The forests' trees housed on their long branches a multitude of birds whose pleasant songs travelled kilometres away. Count Dooku glanced at the natural beauty of his home planet and contemplated it for a few moments. He had power over all these things. They were located on a planet he had full control of. But the authority over Serenno given by his title of count was merely a political term. Any politician and especially political leader was a fool if he, she or it considered they had REAL power. The real power was that granted by the Dark Side of the Force. Only if one was well trained in the Dark Side could he proclaim he had power. And count Dooku of Serenno did. And when time came, he would use this power to take his current master out of the game. For good. After a few more moments, Dooku continued to read the report on the Battle of Ord Canfre. Even though the CIS had come out victorious, it had been a costly battle. Also, the Republic had won several other engagements in that quadrant making the outcome of the battle of Ord Canfre almost insignificant. The details of the report weren't important. The count put the datapad with the report into one of the drawers of his desk and took out another one. This other datapad contained a report regarding the stalemate which concluded the Battle of Bassadro. Just when he began to read it, his desk hologram projector began chirping. The display monitor indicated it was a transmission from Darth Sidious. Dooku got up from his chair, activated the projector and knelt before the image of his Master.

"Lord Tyranus" , said the sinister, hooded figure. "What has become of the courier on Dagu? Has your agent terminated him already?"

"I'm afraid not, Master. He has informed me that Shaak Ti has infiltrated the base on Dagu and has begun a prison riot."

"And when were you going to inform me of this?" asked Sidious angrily. "I need not remind you what will happen if the courier reaches Coruscant safely. Take what measures you think necessary, but that Rybet must not leave Dagu. And I don't think your pitiful brute that you have sent to deal with this situation is capable of defeating Shaak Ti, which by now has most likely contacted the Republic for reinforcements. "

" I shall divert what ships can be spared to Dagu immediately."

" Very well, Tyranus. Do not fail me." Sidious's image vanished. Dooku stood up and sat down on his chair. He raised admiral Gleak on the comlink.

The commander returned with a squad of nearby troopers. Shaak Ti had cleared the entrance corridor of the base: it had been guarded by eight B1 battle droids and a droideka. Shaak Ti walked ahead inside the base followed by the clone troopers. After a few minutes they reached a communication console set up on a wall. Shaak Ti began transmtting to the Jedi Council.

"Shaak Ti, here. I have successfully infiltrated the Separatist base and a prison riot has begun. The droids here outnumber the clone troopers and the Rybets. If there are any reinforcements available, please sent them quickly. Shaak Ti out." She sent the message on the Jedi Temple frequency, begging with a Jedi communication code and then turned to the troopers.

"Commander", she said to 04. "You know where the courier is. By now I am sure whichever Acolyte Dooku sent here will follow us. I will distract him. You must find the courier and take him to the landing pad and wait for extraction."

"Understood, ma'am. Let's move out." He said to his squad. Shaak Ti turned left and started going toward the dark presence she felt in the building.

A faintly illuminated corridor. The Jedi Master could see many shadows cast on the walls and floor where some of the lights were turned off. There were many dark areas on the corridor. Shaak Ti felt the presence of Dooku's minion. She advanced, igniting the lightsaber in her hand.

"You are one of Dooku's pawns", she said. "You know he is using you and that you are merely a tool to him. An INSTRUMENT." Suddenly, Artel Darc leapt toward fer from the right, lightsaber raised above his head. Shaak Ti rolled to the left and half turned to block his attack.

"You talk of manipulation, yet you kidnap and enslave any Force-sensitive you can get your hands on." Darc somersaulted backwards and stroke with his lightsaber again. The Jedi Master blocked the attack and aimed at her opponent's thigh.

"Dooku has twisted your mind. If a child isn't taught how to interact with the Force and how to not let emotions control him or her from early childhood, they will become like you-a servant of the Dark Side. A being ruled by the wish of doing harm and control everything." Darc tried to kick her in the stomach, but she blocked his attack again and slashed toward his shoulder. "And what's bad about that, huh? By harming the ones who stand in your way you gain power and control. And these give immense joy. These should be the goal of every being." He struck twice at her, attempting to break her defence, unsuccessfully. Shaak turned 180 degrees to his left to slash his back. He turned as well, blocking the attack just in time.

"What good is power, if you gain it through other's suffering and if you don't use it purposefully, not even being able to control it. Too much power corrupts and if you use it for personal gain, rather than to do good with less, you are nothing. Subdued to that power, which you won't really control, but will be controlled by it."

" I shall give you a taste of power, then."said the Acolyte. He backed away and threw a powerful Force push at Shaak Ti. She jumped high, almost touching the ceiling, and landed perfectly on both legs. Darc moved to meet her. He sliced at her neck, but she blocked his crimson blade just in time. He then tried to punch her in the face. She avoided the hit and slashed at his right shoulder. Darc fended off the attack. And jumped over the Jedi. The Acolyte quickly backed away a few metres and launched another Force Push at Shaak. She blocked it, calling upon the Force as well. Darc took advantage of this and began running. Shaak Ti followed him, approaching him rapidly. He moved through an open door which led on a balcony with a wide view of the battle below. The droids far outnumbered the Rybets and the clones, but these prisoners had something the droids didn't. The strong desire for freedom. Darc leapt with his blade pointed toward the Jedi Master's heart. She bent forward and clashed her blade against his as he tried to retreat a couple of metres.

The shield generator room was guarded by four B1 battle droids and surely there were twice that many inside to watch over the Rybets working to finish it. And along those Rybets was Laff Tibben. Even though most droids were outside fighting the rioting prisoners, a few still kept watch over prisoners working inside. Being watched closely, they were incapable of attacking their guards. 04 and a trooper got out of the cover of the wall and started shooting at the droids, taking down the first two in an instant. The other troopers moved out of cover, effortlessly taking out the remaining droids in front of the door. "What was that?" said a robotic voice on the opposite side of the door. From the room came out six battle droids. They shot one of the clones in the chest, killing him instantly. The rest of the troopers were rolling and dodging blaster bolts while taking three droids out of the battle. 04 went at one of them and kicked it hard. The B1 fell to the ground and the commander blew it's head of. Just as fast the last two droids were destroyed. Guarding the prisoners were two more droids which were blown immediately to pieces by the clones. There were four Rybets working on the shield generator, all of them frightened and exhausted. 04 had talked to Tibben via comlink a few times before they got through security checks and everything they carried with had to be ditched before the guards came to them. However, he had never met Laff Tibben in person.

"Which one of you is Tibben?" he asked. A light green-skinned Rybet stepped forward.

"I'm Tibben, he said. Are you CC-6704?"

"In flesh and blood", replied the clone." And call me 04".

"I have heard that the Republic has sent a Jedi here. Is that true." asked Tibben "Yeah." answered the commander. "Now take the blasters from the clankers and let's get out of here." The Rybets, including Tibben, took the weapons from the dismantled B1's and were getting ready to go when suddenly, from the door the clones came in entered seven assassin droids.

"Blast it!" said 04. " You two!", he turned to a couple of troopers, take the Rybets and get to a landing pad." The two clones moved around the prisoners and shoot the large window of the shield generator room. The droids arm-mounted blasters started spitting volleys of blaster fire at the clones. The troopers were rolling and dodging the enemy fire and started shooting as well. They were concentrating their fire on the first three droids, constantly moving in the room trying to confuse the assassins. One trooper fell to the ground after being shot in the head. Just when Tibben, the Rybets and the two clones escorting them were preparing to jump from the window onto a construction crane, the courier said,

"Wait! We worked a lot on the shield generator and we know how it works. We can overloaded to explode." An assassin shot dead two more clones.

"It will kill all of us! Now get out of here!" said 04 after he and two of the troopers in the room blew one of the droids' head. "No", said Tibben. "There would be enough time for you to leave the room as well." At the cost of another assassin droid destroyed, three clones had been killed. "Fine", said 04, trying to aim for one of the droid's legs, "but be quick about it." The Rybets got to work while the clones covered them. Another trooper was shot in the right arm and left leg. He staggered abruptly, screaming and falling hard on the floor. The remaining clones managed to shoot an A-series assassin's legs and took it out of the battle. Now there were four droids in the room and three clones, including 04.

"We are running out of time, Tibben!" yelled the clone commander.

The duel was fierce. With each lightsaber strike, Darc was getting more furious and attacking more ferociously. Shaak Ti kept calm and let the Force guide her hands: BLOCK-BLOCK-HIT, HIT-BLOCK-HIT, maintaining discipline. Darc had been trained well by Dooku, but his fighting style was somewhat sloppy and unrefined. She blocked another attacked and launched one of her own. Darc also tried to impale her, and the blades collided again loudly. The Acolyte kept spinning and slashing with his blade in powerful strikes. Shaak Ti was blocking each hit with precision and using attacks of her own. The battle beneath them was just as furious as their duel. Clones and Rybets were fighting with impressive resolve, but the droids had the advantage of bigger numbers. Red blaster bolts were flying between the combatants below, and most of the time they reached their target. The sun was begging to set, descending behind the tall mountains and the swamps.

Travik was watching the disaster outside. He would have to leave this planet soon or he would be caught in the middle of this skirmish. When he wanted to give the order for his ship to be prepared, the command centre's holoprojector began beeping.

"It is a transmission from Count Dooku, sir." said one of the Skakoan techs.

"Count Dooku?" asked the Neimoidian officer from Travik's command staff. "Now we are stuck here! We should have fled this mud ball when we had the chance." "Shut up." said Travik."Activate the holoprojector." Dooku's image appeared from the projector. Trakiv inclined his head respectfully and said,

"Greetings, Count Dooku, I-" "Skip the pleasantries, commander", said the count, visibily annoyed."You and your carelessly chosen security measures have allowed a Jedi to infiltrate this installation. Not only that, but the courier had been to close to falling into enemy hands. He is now being secured by Darc's droids. You are going to lead an offensive against the slaves and the incoming Republic reinforcements. Two Munificent-class frigates will arrive shortly to assist your fleet."

"Yes, Count Dooku."said Travik.

" You had better not fail me again." and Dooku's image vanished. Travik was terrified. If a Republic fleet came here the battle would be as good as lost for the CIS. He hoped the ships coming to reinforce the Dagu fleet would be enough.

The A-series droids kept firing at the clones. They took cover behind some crates near the shield generator and were returning fire.

"It is ready."said Tibben."The shield generator will self destruct in three minutes." "Covering fire!" ordered 04 to his two remaining troopers. "Let's move!" The clones got out of cover and kept shooting toward the droids, positioning themselves between the assassins and the escaping Rybets. When the courier and the other three Rybets had jumped from the window and safely landed on the crane, the clones followed. Just before jumping, one of the clones was shot in the shoulder losing balance. He screamed a pained "Eww!" and fell from the window before 04 and the other trooper could catch him. They jumped and a blaster bolt missed 04's head by a centimetre. He felt the radiant heat of the projectile. The commander and the other clone landed on the crane a few metres below the window. The droids were ready to follow them, but before they could do anything, the room was shaken by a powerful explosion which destroyed the assassins.

"Commander Travik", said the Separatist Fleet admiral, "our extra ships have arrived, but so have the enemy cruisers: two Venators and two Acclamator-class carriers. I suggest you capture that Republic courier already and help the High commander finish that Jedi. We will sent ground troops to assist you against the slaves and the newly-arrived clone troopers."

"The battle is as good as lost. We should retreat from Dagu before we lost all our droids and ships!" "I follow my orders" , said the admiral, "as should you". The transmission ended.

There were four Republic ships and just as many Separatist ones: A Providence-class destroyer and three Munificent-class frigates, one of which had been damaged during the previous battle. The Republic was at somewhat of a disadvantage with its two Venators and two Acclamators. Republic admiral Duut Adwan was starting through the bridge viewport of his Venator-class destroyer, Last Stand. He was a human male in his early forties who had participated in many battles against the CIS since the start of the Clone Wars. He had started serving in the Republic Navy a few years before the war, fighting and arresting pirate crews. Now here he was: in charge of a cruiser fleet fighting battleships piloted mostly by droids.

"Launch all fighters! Tell the carriers to deploy the LAATs and the frigates. Let's position in front of them to draw the enemy fire." ordered Adwan. The bridge officers started transmitting the commands to the rest of the fleet. Darc moved back and jumped from the balcony, landing in the middle of the battle. Shaak Ti followed him. He raised his blade to cut her down, but she blocked it while in midair. The Jedi Master landed a few metres away and Darc leapt toward her. She rolled to her left and then their blades clashed again in a ferocious fight. All around them sizzled blaster bolts from the droids' and the prisoners' weapons. Some clones and Rybets had been injured or even killed by shrapnel from shot droids. Almost every second a clone would fall to the ground, usually followed by a droid. The troopers were leading the attack, trying to keep the Rybets behind in relative protection. But shots were fired in all directions and many Rybets were dying as well, screaming in pain before staggering to the ground. The fight with Darc was exhausting. Shaak Ti was calling upon the Force to sustain her. With each moment he was becoming angrier and fighting more fiercely. But this wouldn't be of much use to him, because while concentrating on attacking, he was somewhat neglecting his defenses. Although he was still blocking her hits pretty well, at some point he would make a mistake, attacking to hard and remaining defenseless. From the Acolyte's communicator came the voice of an obviously frightened man.

"Sir", the man began, "commander Travik here." Darc didn't answer, he was to focused on the duel. Commander Travik continued talking anyway. "Republic reinforcements have arrived. They have engaged our fleet and are sending troop ships planetside as we speak. Count Dooku has sent two frigates to aid us. Although the Republic ships have been heavily damaged and will soon be destroyed, there isn't much we can do about the ground troops they wave sent. What are your orders?"

" Obliterate the fleet already and send our Vulture droids to intercept their troop transporters." managed Darc to answer.

"We will, sir, but their fighter squadrons and cruisers are keeping our fighters away from the descending transporters."

"THEN DESTROY THEM, ALREADY!" yelled Darc so loudly that it seemed likely everyone within two kilometres heard him. In the distance, the Jedi Master could see gunships carrying clone troopers descending from the atmosphere. All the Separatist fighters had been diverted to the space battle and the base planetside didn't have any anti-air defences. In just a few minutes, clone troopers were coming out from the ships, taking the lead in the battle against the droids. Most of them were advancing through the lines of droids, scrapping them with volleys of blue blaster fire, while others were covering the Rybets while they got in the gunships. With these troops here the fight would be over soon. He again launched his lightsaber at her. Shaak blocked the hit and retreated backwards. The Acolyte positioned his blade horizontally and dashed toward the Jedi. This was the mistake he made in his anger to kill Shaak Ti. Not once in their fight had Artel Darc ignored the importance of defence. She squatted, avoided the Acolyte's crimson blade by a few centimetres and slashed his legs, doing all this in less than two seconds.

"Aaaaah!" yelled Darc in pain. He immediately fell to the ground, dropping his lightsaber. Shaak Ti hadn't cut off his legs, but she had wounded him very seriously by aiming at the bones under the knees. The man's legs had started bleeding rapidly. "Aaa!" he screamed again.

"You will pay for this! I will kill you!" exclaimed Darc.

"Killing me will have to wait a very long time." she said. Now the Acolyte was beginning to lose a lot of blood. Shaak crouched beside him, attempting to slow the flow of blood with the Force. She wasn't as talented as Vokara Che at healing, but she was pretty good at it. Besides, she didn't want to heal him completely, or otherwise he would start fighting again. The Jedi Master only wanted to make sure he wouldn't die. He was screaming not so much because of pain, but because he hated her. She put her hands above the wounds and let the Force flow through her. In a matter of minutes, the blood had been stopped by the regenerated flesh that had closed the injuries. His leg bones were still severely fractured and Shaak Ti wasn't going to change that.

"I am going to cut you in pieces!" continued Darc. Shaak Ti was ignoring him. A clone with green markings, indicating he was a sergeant, was running toward her with a few troopers. When they reached her, all of them stood to attention and the sergeant saluted her.

"CT-3580, reporting for duty, general." said the officer. The Jedi Master returned the salute with a nod. "We've begun advancing through the droid positions, ma'am. The Rybets have been evacuated to the cruisers in orbit, which have taken out the Separatist fleet."

"And what of the courier? Has commander 04 rescued him?"

"Yes, general." said someone from behind. Shaak Ti turned to see 04, Tibben and another trooper. "Everyone besides us from the rescue squad has been killed by assassin droids." said the commander with grief in his voice.

"Unfortunate losses, but you have done a great job." said Shaak. "Make sure Laff Tibben is safely transported to the fleet in orbit."

"Understood, ma'am." replied 04 and walked away with Tibben and the other trooper. The Jedi Master turned to the CT-3580.

"Sergeant" , she said gesturing to Artel Darc, "he needs to be taken to the medical bay on board a cruiser. He is an apprentice of count Dooku and, even unable to move, he may still be dangerous. Place him under heavy guard at all times."

"Yes, ma'am." he responded. 80 glanced at his troopers and made some hand gestures. Four clones moved to lift the Acolyte and take him to a nearby transport.

"Now let's finish what we started." said Shaak Ti. It was getting dark. A couple of hours have passed since Shaak Ti had defeated Artel Darc.

The Jedi Master was cutting through the last rows of droids, CT-3580 next to her, leading his squad. The sergeant hit a B2 super battle droid, a daring move considering how strong that thing was. The droid fell a step back and 80 rolled to his right and shot the droid in its photoreceptors. He then pushed forward, blue volleys of blaster fire from his blaster knocking down droids. His troopers were right behind him, turning the clankers instantly into shrapnel. Shaak Ti, less than two meters to the left side of the clones, decapitated a B1 and then Force pushed the last droids into a wall of the Separatist base. She deactivated her lightsaber and turned to the sergeant.

"That seems to be the last of them." Shaak said.

"Indeed, ma'am. Should I call for a transport to take you to admiral Adwan's cruiser?" 80 asked.

"That would be much appreciated." she said.

The elevator leading to the bridge was dimly lit. There was barely enough light to see at all. Shaak Ti was mentally assessing everything that happened on Dagu. The liberation of the Rybets, the riot and the ensuing battle and, most importantly, the duel with Artel Darc. It was sad to think how easily Dooku could twist the minds of Force users and enslave them to the Dark Side. The elevator stopped and the doors opened. The Last Stand's Bridge was large and full of clone officers attending to their stations. Standing on the command walkway were an admiral and to clone commanders, all three standing to attention. One of the two clones was 04, now no longer dressed in slave robes, but in clone trooper armor with yellow markings to indicate his rank of commander. Next to him was the commander in charge of the reinforcements sent to Dagu, wearing armor with identical rank markings. Shaak Ti approached them and they greeted her with the usual military salute. She nodded at them and said,

"At ease. Greetings admiral, you have arrived just in time."

"Arriving unexpected is Raptor Fleet's specialty, general." said admiral Adwan, maintaining a respectful tone."The Separatist Fleet has been destroyed and Dagu is secured. We have lost one Acclamator-class destroyer. This ship has been badly damaged, but is repairable, the other Venator is moderately damaged and the remaining Acclamator only has a few scratches. The prisoner you ordered to be heavily secured has been put in an escape proof cell with six troopers constantly watching him. He has received necessary medical treatment to keep him in a fair shape, but he is almost incapable of walking and shouldn't be any trouble. Also, we have captured a Separatist shuttle with officers trying to flee from Dagu. The most high-ranking of them is a human named Travik. They are being interrogated as we speak."

"Well done, admiral, said the Jedi Master. Set the course for Coruscant." "Very well, genera." Shaak Ti turned to 04.

"Good job, commander."

"Thank you, general." said the clone politely. Raptor Fleet disappeared in hyperspace, leaving Dagu and heading to the Republic capital world.


End file.
